Polls predict upper house win for Japan's ruling party

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling bloc looks set to achieve a majority in the upper house in this month's election, according to Saturday newspaper polls.

Securing the majority would give Mr Abe control of both chambers of the legislature and mean he would not have to face a public vote for three years - ending a parliamentary deadlock and setting the stage for Japan's first stable government since 2006.

Separate polls in the Nikkei newspaper, Kyodo News and the Asahi Shimbun predict the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition ally should comfortably win more than half of the 121 of the 242 seats up for grabs upper house election on July 21.

To secure a majority in the chamber the ruling bloc needs to win 63 seats.

The liberal-leaning Asahi Shimbun's poll estimated a win of between 63 and 73 seats for the conservative LDP.

Mr Abe's supporters say he will use his renewed political clout to make changes in coddled and inefficient industries such as agriculture, and reform labour laws that businesses say make it difficult to hire and fire workers.

It would also offer the prime minister a mandate for his policy of so-called "Abenomics", aiming reinvigorate the Japanese economy with a mix of hyper-easy monetary policy and structural reforms, including deregulation.

Opponents say Mr Abe will change his focus from the economy to revising the constitution, boosting the military and re-assessing Japan's wartime history.

In the last session of parliament the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was the biggest single grouping, however opposition parties have failed to effectively formulate a strong message to sell voters for whom the big-spending Abenomics policy and resulting signs of economic growth have been popular.